Love Stories

Not far away, a woman sat on a park bench watching her son.

Her arms were drawn across her chest, her shoulders were raised, and a muscle in her back was just beginning to spasm, but she moved her mittened fingers up and down reflexively. "Five more minutes," she thought to herself, "and then it's nap-time."

Her son, who was three, was climbing up the slide and then tumbling down again. His cheeks were apple-red from cold and his nose was running. A pair of green mittens dangled from the string under his coat, but his hands, which were peeking out from the cuffs of his oversized sleeves, were bare.

He was laughing.

Suddenly, a gust of wind rushed through the trees. The branches rattled. From her place on the bench, the woman nestled deeper into her own jacket and then, with a flash of irritation, she opened her mouth and shouted. 

"Why won't you stop pulling off your mittens? Can't you tell it's cold out here?"

"Jason," she shouted. "Do you hear me? Jason!"

***

"And this," Katherine explained, cupping her hands together, "is the mermaid sign language."

"Ooohhh," Penelope gasped, propping herself up on her elbow. Her pupils were wide and dark; her voice trembled.

I yawned.

"What did the sign mean," I asked, pulling Penelope into my lap. I was forcing my eyes to stay open. The tent was small, hot, and the air was fusty. "Five more minutes," I thought to myself, "and I'll ask them if they want to watch a movie." 

"It was the sign for love," Katherine said. Her voice was solemn.

"And that was the sign she showed the prince," Penelope asked, "just before the bad guys came?"

"Yes," Katherine nodded.

Outside, a gust of wind blew across the building. From the living room, I could hear the windows rattle. I leaned in closer. "Four more minutes now," I thought. But out loud I asked, "and then what happened?"

--- and then, the sunlight brightened; it flooded through the room and filtered down through our homemade tent, all those variegated folds of quilted fabric. Katherine's hands seemed to darken in the sudden light. They were silhouettes now, rainbow-hued, and cast in shadows.

"Well," she said, fixing her gaze on me, "that's when the adventure started."

***

Outside, a swath of light fell across the woman's face. She squinted. Then, unconsciously, she lowered her shoulders. She breathed in deeply.

"What is it, Mama?"

The little boy trotted across the playground and she circled her arms around him. She tucked his hands back inside his mittens.

"You've got to keep these on, love," she said with a smile. "It's freezing!"